Thoughts on Money

Time matters. So much of the rat race that squeezes your free time means you have to spend loads of money on convenience purchases (woke up too late for the bus, had to take an Uber; no time to make dinner from scratch; etc) but even more importantly, if you do not have ample free time, you cannot learn how to be satisfied.

Security is fundamentally about being able to hold and stay in the tension of uncertainty without compulsively resolving it or dispelling it.

But consumption smoothing pays homage to an existential reality: Life itself is the ultimate scarce asset. The future is unknowable, and religiously maintaining a double-digit savings rate through the worst squalls of life is not of the utmost importance.

"I just found this hammer. What should I do with it?"

Kind of a weird question, right? But it's just like asking "What should I do with this money?"

Well, uh...I dunno. That's not nearly enough information.

A hammer is a tool.

Money is a tool.

You have to get clear on what you're trying to accomplish in life before anyone can tell you what to do with... See more

after writing about money for a decade, what have I figured out about money, you ask? financial security isn't a number, it’s a relationship with "enough."

no number will ever feel like enough when your sense of security is tied to one. you hit the milestone, the goalpost moves, you blame yourself for moving it.

You can't win a game if you don't know the rules of the game. You need to understand how money works. You need to understand how money moves. You need to understand how to use it as a tool. My whole mantra working with clients in financial services as an advisor isn't so much to tell people what to do, but to make sure they understand how things... See more

This is the kind of work we do as financial advisors. We help clients lean into the tension between money and meaning. It’s not about quick answers! It’s about living with the questions long enough to align their money with what truly matters.